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The Tenants Counsel Network ripped off renters with monthly fees and left them hanging in eviction court, officials say. An agreement with the Attorney General’s office will shut down the firm and refund clients.
When tenants facing eviction called the Tenants Counsel Network for help, the firm took their money and routinely ghosted them, according to a settlement from New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
Some tenants were scammed into paying the firm—which had no experience in housing law—monthly subscription fees. When tenants had court dates, their lawyers wouldn’t show up, nor would they make themselves available to advise their clients.
The Attorney General opened an investigation into deceptive business practices and false advertising at TCN in May 2024. The agreement announced Thursday will dissolve the firm, refund tenants $172,000 in fees, and force the company to pay the state $35,000 in fines. The firm’s founder, Aryeh Weber, will be barred from practicing law in New York.
“When tenants seek legal counsel, they should be able to trust that their lawyers are going to help them,” said Attorney General James. “Housing is a stabilizing force for New York families, and this law firm preyed on New Yorkers who stood to lose it. Today, my office is putting hard-earned money back in New Yorkers’ pockets and making sure that this law firm cannot harm any tenant again.”
Lawyers for the Tenants Counsel Network did not return requests for comment.
The firm, founded in December 2023, specifically targeted tenants facing eviction, according to the Attorney General’s office, scraping the state’s court website to find names and contact information. To solicit clients, they sent out tens of thousands of mailers, often before tenants even knew about their pending eviction.
Many were not even from real attorneys. “J. Clarksburg is an entirely fictitious person and there is no attorney with that name licensed in the state of New York. Over 1,100 solicitations were mailed with the signature of the fictitious attorney,” wrote James in the agreement.
In the midst of a housing crisis, thousands of New Yorkers are at risk of eviction. Eviction rates have been creeping back towards pre-pandemic highs, with over 19,000 in 2025 and 5,000 as of April 2026, keeping pace with last year’s post-pandemic high.
The city has a program that connects low-income tenants who show up to housing court with free legal representation. But advocates say it needs much more funding to meet demand, as only half of eligible tenants actually get an attorney.
The Attorney General’s office said that tenant protection is a priority, pointing to recent settlements to stop tenant harassment, force repairs, and prevent discrimination against tenants using housing assistance.
Under the agreement with Tenants Counsel Network, the firm is required to cease operations at the end of July.
Here’s what else happened this week—
ICYMI, from City Limits:
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s latest budget proposal includes a boost for the city’s landmark “Right to Counsel” program, which connects low-income renters facing eviction with legal representation in housing court. But advocates say it’s not enough to meet demand. “We end up having to turn away eligible tenants,” one attorney said.
- The mayor’s executive budget did not include an expansion of the city’s housing voucher program, CityFHEPS, which city lawmakers have been pressing for since 2022. Mamdani instead announced reforms he said will make the program more efficient, as its costs continue to soar.
- “It’s time for a new era of public art for NYCHA.”
ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:
- More renters in luxury apartments buildings are getting in on tenant organizing, Gothamist reports.
- The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is investigating the owners of an Inwood building where a fire killed three people earlier this month, according to The City.
- Longtime tenants who rent single rooms in a building on the Bowery say they’re being pushed out after the owners converted the site to a boutique hotel, Hell Gate reports.
- Mamdani is looking to rezone neighborhoods in the northwest Bronx and south of Prospect Park in Brooklyn for additional housing, according to the Norwood News.
- NYCHA tenants aired their grievances with city officials at the first of City Hall’s planned “NYCHA in Your Neighborhood” forums, Bronx Times reports.
- After a fire killed 17 people in the Twin Parks apartment complex in the Bronx, a nonprofit raised over $400,000 for its survivors. It took four years for them to actually get the funds, according to New York Focus.
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